Day 1, 5/10 11:00pm

Today we left our homes and embarked on a journey. Not knowing where this adventure would land us, (as far as our electric vehicle's reputation was concerned) we set off. When we arrived in Rockland we met with the students who had been at an honorary dinner for Barney Hallowell, which was held at (MECA) Maine College of the Arts.

At the ferry terminal in Rockland, we needed to connect the electric vehicle's lights to that of the tow vehicle, hook up the towbar, and pack the bus and tow van. As soon as we had all our last minute preparations finished, we headed out onto the road. We drove the Electric Vehicle as far as the hills would allow us to, with D at the wheel, and Foster and Neil learning how to operate the vehicle.We had a long journey to the Bartovics' house, but everyone was quite excited to finally be on the road.

We arrived at the Bartovics' house at 9:00pm and celebrated Bill'sbirthday with pizza and a fruit tart. Morale was high and it seemed that we were getting a good charge on "rEVolution ride." We got our official Volkswagen mechanics' shirts, and Neil said, "If I told you that I had a dream, and in it I was at Foster's house with all my friends and we were wearing Volkswagen mechanics shirts, and it was Bill's birthday and he had a birthday cake that was made completely out of fruit, you'd think that it was a pretty interesting dream."

With a 100 ft charging cable running through the house to the highest rated outlet, our display board splayed out on the floor, and an internet connection that wouldn't connect, it could have looked to an outsider like a chaotic work session. But everyone had their job,and finally we decided that we had had enough and that our work was complete, we headed off to bed. In the morning we would be driving from Massachussetts to Delaware, approximately an 8 to 9 hr drive.-Alex

Day 2: 5/11

Today was an early start for those of us that had to shower,though tomorrow is looking like it might be an earlier start. It was a 5:30 wake up call for those who took showers, and a 6 o-clock wakeup call for everyone else. Everyone got up, cleaned up, packed up,and we had a brief team meeting to discuss the day. We left Bill and Becky's house around 7, to embark on what we planned to be an 8 hour trip, not including stops.

The bus ride was long and monotonous, however, it was paused a fewtimes to fill up on gas and break for the bathroom. The ride was quiet to begin with but the noise grew in volume as the day progressed and we started to wake up. Our long bus ride today was navigated by Elizabeth and Becky. Liz was totally focused on her assigned task, and led us to "Granny Greta's" house, Mina's grandmother, in Rockland Delaware, without any troubles at all.We arrived at Greta's house around 5 o-clock, and were amazed at it'sbeauty. The house itself is beautiful, and is surrounded by gorgeous grounds. Our host Greta was very kind, always asking if we needed anything.

After we had all set up our rooms we went on to do a variety ofthings. Some people took the opportunity to go swimming while others worked on various aspects of the EV: Neil worked on setting up the charger, Liz, Mina, Molly, and Joan worked on the presentation board with Foster and Jake, Jacq applied our numbers to the van, and Alex and Stan worked on the website. Later Neil and Foster adjusted the motor controller and practiced driving the van , while I worked on this journal entry.

We finished up our presentation board and planned for the next day, our first official day of the Tour. Everyone was ready for the next day, despite not quite being sure what to expect. We had our evening meeting in Granny Greta's front hall and many of us went to bed. The day was a beautiful one and our place for the night was wonderful. Nice people, nice sleeping quarters, nice showers, nice food, nice scenery....What more could you ask for?

This is Tonya signing out for rEVolutionride. 'Night all!'

May 13, 2002
Today was hot and muggy. We got most of our technical testing done yesterday, so we spent most of the day presenting to school groups and interested individuals. In the early morning we made some final adjustments to the vehicle including: installing a fan to cool our controller and cutting some wood to fit into the battery boxes to further restrain the batteries. These two additions were the only things that needed to be changed. We were all so proud of our car after how well it did in the inspection.

After the presentations ended around three we left for D.C. I was navigating with Liz in the electric vehicle. This was not a leg of the race, but we wanted to drive the Ev more before we raced. We gota little lost at first but we finally figured out where we were going, mostly on our own, a true learning experience!

When we arrived at the charging station it was so beautiful. There was a huge dark cloud over us, but the buildings behind us were covered with sunlight. It began to get windy and then a huge, arching rainbow appeared in the sky. A second section of rainbow appeared near the huge archway. Then they both grew very bright and doubled insize. The sky was so blue. I must have used up a whole roll of film in the space of twenty minutes.

It has been a long day and we are all very tired, but very well taken care of! We love you all and miss you too!
-Mina

May 14, 2002

The most exciting part of my day today was the fact that the EV used such little energy to go from 15 miles outside the city of Washington, all the way to Crystal City, Virginia where the charging station is. We took the exciting and slightly longer way to the charging station. We used very little voltage. In all I estimate about 40 miles was our total voyage. When we arrived at the lot where a large generator was, we saw such a beautiful rainbow. I was in awe of how amazing the natural setting around us was. And it dawned on me how important this project is to insure the health of our planet. It was so nice to finally arrive at the youth hostel. I am glad for sleep! So good bye and hugs and kisses. I loveyou all back home on North Haven!
-XOXOXOXO Alex

Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Today we presented at the festival at the Mall at Washington, D.C. We were very lucky because there was a strong wind so it wasn't as hot as the last three days. Representatives from Tom Allen's office and Jon Baldacci's office came and talked with us about the vehicle and the tour. Jac, Liz and Becky volunteered and took groups of kids around to see the different vehicles. The rEVolution ride was a big hit with the kids. They all piled into the back and in the drivers seat and pretended to go on road trips. They were elementary through high school kids from the Washington, D.C. area. Most of them would keep on coming back to our vehicle because they liked it so much.Christine Todd Whitman from the EPA gave the key note address before the official start.
Today was the official start of the Tour de Sol rally. We started on the Mall in Washington D.C. between the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. Foster drove the EV while Mina navigated. Molly navigated the chase vehicle. The rest of the day was a little crazy (see Al's entry) but we all pulled together. We are having a great time and the rEVolution ride rocks the Tour de Sol. Tasty abs wash aboard style. Thank you for your time.
Jacob

#2 O.K., so we were cruising down the high ways at 45 mph. D in the drivers seat and I in Navigation (AL).We were talking about something interesting. Like how great the invention of the catalytic converter was or about the torque converter that we have in the EV. As soon as I had taken a breath from spitting out the truth about the true meaning of life to D, we saw it! There the EV was. It had run out of batteries and it was on the shoulder of the highway. D and I decided to stop and hitch up the tow van. As soon as we got a few inches of the road, we sank up to the axle into the chocolate mousse consistency mud. After about two years of cuss words, Dietter and I jumped out and called the tow truck. The end.
p.s. The EV doesn't have torque converter, I wasn't even in the towcar, I was asleep in the bus. D never swears.
Alex

Today was a long day. We woke up at 6 a.m. and left at 7 a.m., from YMCA's Camp Lett. Camp Lett was a wonderful establishment which had a warm summer camp feel to it (SUPER!). We packed up the van and had a great breakfast which consisted of bagels, donuts, and small orange juice containers. We enjoyed this feast on top of a lovely trash can. At the festival some of us volunteered to take groups of kids from local schools on tours of all the vehicles. Others stayed with the rEVolution ride and explained how it worked to the groups that came by. Still others slept under trees, ate and or explored the park where our demonstration was set up. There were a couple of really cool aspects of this demonstration which made it different from the others that we have done. One of the local high schools had built three small electrical go-carts completely from scratch. They brought them to be include in the festival. There were also kids from local elementary schools that were participating in the Junior Solar Sprints where they were racing their small solar powered vehicles (like the model cars that our school did last year). There were a couple hundred elementary kids racing there. It gave us a wonderful feeling of commonality.

For the ride to Bahime High School we had navigators in each vehicle. Foster, Molly, and Jake all rode in the EV. Foster drove while Molly navigated and Jake sat in the back and filmed. We went over one ofthe largest bridges that we have ever crossed. It was an amazing 1.3 miles long! Tonight we stayed at great dairy farm in Maryland. The smell of clean air was all around with the occasional whiff of manure. When we got there, everyone piled out of the bus. Some of us went running while others relaxed and wrote in their journals and did their thing. It's been a long day so we are going to bed early. We have to leave tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.
Over and out, Jac and Fos.

There are four vehicles and three separate teams from Maine. We are tied with New York for the state with the most representatives at the Tour de Sol. The Mainers have been very supportive of one another with supplies, parts and tools. It's been great to be connected to these other folks from UMO, and Falmouth.
- D

May 16, 2002

Last night we spent the night at a beautiful cow farm in Maryland. It was great! We all got our own beds , sheets and blankets and it was comfy. I slept better last night then I've slept this whole trip. For a whole five hours on account of we had to get up at four thirty. So we could get to the high school, were our car was parked, before seven. Boy was I tired. After we got to the drivers meeting and Neil who drove today, Tonya, Jacq and D got out to learn about today's festivities. The rest of us, except for Liz (she was kidnapped by wild apes this morning and forced to work in the field under the hot sun all day setting up for the demonstration in Philadelphia by herself with forty pound weights ducked taped to each of her limbs),went on a excursion. Our fearless leader Christi lead us in our tireless search for high quality fast-food. Our expedition was all for not. Alas! I was bamboozled by the sinister and elderly cashier at the most prestigious fast-food establishment, MacDonalds, into buying the tiniest cup of coffee in all the land. When I very politely requested medium coffee this ne'r-do-well well register attendant failed to mention a medium as a nonexistent cup size for hot beverages and simply gave me a small, a very small. Apparently she does not love to see me smile. Thankfully for yours truly, Saint Christi herself stepped in and purchased an additional large coffee to satisfy my need for caffeine . Christi, in true saint fashion, asked nothing of me in return, all she asked was for a lovely MacDonalds fruit parfait. Unfortunately, to her great dismay, Christiwas forced to wait fifteen minutes for a cup of fruity creamy goodness that was resting in cooler a mere seven feet from her behind that evil counter of senseless delay. It seems to me that this particular MacDonalds employee did not love to see either Christie or me smile. Not impressed. Moving on from this completely unsatisfying dining experience, I found myself in our chase vehicle, racing down the highway at 55 exhilarating miles per hour. Unfortunately, a wretch was thrown yet again into our wheel of good fortune, when we were forced to take an alternate route, due to the unexpected delays caused by an overturned oil truck and thirty ill fated cars. After our trusty vehicle ran out of battery power, we towed it into the crowded and busy streets of Philly. After presenting for two short and fun filled hours, we towed our electric driving machine to an abandoned race track, where the ghouls and witches roam. Where Sir Neil fearlessly charged into battle at op his steadfast rEVolutionride. After a magnificent display of speed, agility and control, Neil took the day with the help of his faithful companion, that little blue van from North Haven. You took the day buddy, way to go, you took the day. You may not have been the quickest but you were the best darn driver of the best darn van this track has ever seen. This story was based on a true story, some facts may have been exaggerated, or omitted for you reading pleasure. THE END.